FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Downgraded by Loop Capital to “Sell”

Loop Capital lowered shares of FedEx (NYSE:FDX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Loop Capital currently has $221.00 price objective on the shipping service provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $283.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on FDX. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on FedEx from $320.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. BNP Paribas raised FedEx from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on FedEx from $347.00 to $317.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James cut FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.60.

FedEx Trading Down 6.5 %

NYSE FDX opened at $230.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $259.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.64. FedEx has a twelve month low of $217.22 and a twelve month high of $313.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $55.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by ($0.05). FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The firm had revenue of $22.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that FedEx will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total transaction of $713,371.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,984,589.98. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy B. Lane bought 333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $276.06 per share, with a total value of $91,927.98. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FedEx

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FDX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $807,352,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $234,028,000. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in FedEx by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,889,624 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $3,907,568,000 after acquiring an additional 734,268 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,733,000. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its holdings in FedEx by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 852,767 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $239,909,000 after acquiring an additional 329,170 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About FedEx

FedEx Corporation provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services in the United States and internationally. It operates through FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services segments. The FedEx Express segment offers express transportation, small-package ground delivery, and freight transportation services; and time-critical transportation services.